We are the Chansons!

We are the Chansons!
We are Scott and Breanna Chanson and we live and breathe to tell stories….
We were married in 2005, and as we stood saying our vows at the altar, neither of us could've predicted the incredible story our life together would develop into. Since we began shooting weddings in 2006, we've had a whirlwind of unforgettable experiences. We've shot all over the U.S. as well as internationally. We've gained an invaluable following of loyal fans who have encouraged us to continue on… even through the rough times. We've developed ourselves into teachers and mentors for other photographers and small businesses. We've expanded Radiant by adding a new photography team and creating a home base in both Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ.
Through all this, we've discovered that the two most important things to us are people and their stories. Radiant Photography exists to help us meet amazing people and allows us to tell their stories.
We hope you enjoy this shared experience into one another's worlds.

Ah the sound of the ocean, the feeling of sand under your feet, and the sounds of children laughing…… or is that thousands of adults laughing, screaming, and talking? Yep, it’s the second one!When we arrived at the Santa Monica Pier for Kelsey and Steven’s engagement session, we definitely expected to find more of the first and ended up with a lot more of the second!Unbeknownst to us, it was the night of the free concert on the pier, and there were thousands of people there along with their millions of bottles of wine. At first, I was a little worried that all these people might take a toll on our photo session, but happily found out that instead, they actually added to it!I mean, what’s a completely empty and quiet beach? The answer is it’s a sad beach! It’s way more fun if there are tons of people wading in the water, building sand castles, or you know, getting drunk on a Thursday night perhaps!In the end, the people really added to the whole energy of the session and gave it a fun hustle and bustle feel… or rather, gave it a more intimate feel with Kelsey and Steven being lost in their own world while people all around them were in a hurry to get in line for a corn dog or to get in the front row of the stage!When you have a couple this perfect for each other and this in love, you can put them anywhere, including in a group of hundreds of people, and they will always catch your eye!So overall, it was a very fantastic and fun session! We had a great time with Kelsey and Steven, got some amazing pictures, saw several intense public displays of affection, dodged some gnarly seagull poop, and are now looking forward to your wedding day even more than we were before!

You’d think that the best thing about Matt and Rachel’s wedding would be that it involved our (Scottie & Breanna’s) first trip to New York! But no, that wasn’t even close to the best thing!The best thing was that this wedding was all about two of our closest friends (and neighbors!) committing to one another for life and celebrating their beautiful relationship in the company of their most cherished loved ones.

Yeah, that was the best part by far!

It’s pretty impossible for anything to top that, everything else above and beyond was just a bonus!Bonuses like the fact that it was at an absolutely incredible wedding venue in upstate New York (Emerson Park Pavilion) that had more greenery than either of the desert-born Scottie or myself knew was possible…

…like the fact that it was filled with the wonderful friends and family who helped make up the lovely people Matt and Rachel have become today…… the fact that so many of our photo opportunities really represented Matt and Rachel’s personalities…

(Well, this one doesn’t represent Rachel so much as it does her very fun bridesmaids who came up with this idea!)

… the fact that the entire day was pulled off seamlessly by the extraordinarily talented wedding planner, Kate Lemos Brown from Lovewell Celebration Design (are you SURE you don’t want to move to Los Angeles, Kate?!)…… and of course the fact that it was an incredibly meaningful day for both Matt and Rachel that involved so many laughs, tears, and Jewish customs.Added to all that was the fact that everyone got to live it up and enjoy life at one amazing party to celebrate all things Matt and Rachel!!!Matt and Rachel, I’m sorry if this blog doesn’t do your wedding or our relationship to you guys justice. Perhaps it’s because I’m so tired from my amazing day of chaperoning middle schoolers at Disneyland with Rachel yesterday! Or maybe it’s because I’m still recovering from the average weekend on Venice Beach that we just spent together, involving all the usuals- like BBQ’s, cop calling, fearing for our lives, national news making, and sour cream and onion dip.But most likely it’s because I’m having such a hard time putting into words what the two of you mean to Scottie and I. There’s really a good chance that we would’ve moved home by now had we not met such valuable friends as you two (yes mom, you can blame them for keeping us here!).

(That’s me- Breanna- photo bombing their selfie!)

It’s been amazing for both Scottie and I to find the kind of friends who go on couple dates with us, get us into Coachella for free, listen to all our troubles/issues/OCD/over-Googled fears (OK some of those are just me, not Scottie) , take us to Korean BBQ or to the coolest Whiskey bar in Downtown LA (which remains cool even if ALL the drinks slide off the table onto your lap, as happened to me), offer to make buffalo dip or cookies for us, laugh as we watch another neighbor sell our parking spots to beach goers, help us (okay, ME) make outfit & accessory decisions……play cornhole in the street with us (along with our friendly, neighborhood horse cops of course), let us use their parking spot sometimes (a true representation of their love for us), translate our letters to the gardener into Spanish, play “Just Dance” on Wii together (yes ALL of us!), get to know and care about our other friends, convince us to build a giant structure (Sukkah) in our front yard for a Jewish holiday, provide us with an endless supplies of Dried and True beef jerky……sit around watching youtube videos together for hours, let my parents (along with 8 teenagers!) stay in their place while they’re away, let our dog boss theirs around (also pee on their rug, eat their dog’s food, attack every dog in sight while they’re being so kind as to walk her… the list goes on and on for that one), take long/life figuring out walks with me, discuss “Pretty Little Liars” (Matt & Scottie won’t shut up about it)……teach us about jiu jitsu without asking to practice on us, make s’mores around the campfire in our front yard with us, go into our place to ease my fears that we forgot to turn off the stove/curling iron/etc, and most of all– the kind of friends who will sit with you in the front yard for hours upon hours just enjoying life together. It’s because of these things and SO MANY MORE that we couldn’t be happier to have the two of you in our lives.You mean the world to us and if it were possible for your wedding to mean more to anyone else than it did to you, I think it would be to us (well, probably to your parents/family/those you’ve known since birth, and THEN to us!).We love you guys and couldn’t be happier that you’ve decided to spend your lives together… while living next door to us.Click to see the rest of the photos from Matt & Rachel’s wedding!

Hi there Radiant Photography fans and followers! Kelley here, bringing you a beautiful love story with photos to match.

Meet David and Courtney.

David is one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet, but he’s also got a bit of a wild side.

Sure, he teared up a bit during their reveal moment, but darned if this military man doesn’t constantly wear the manliest of boots, drive a muddy truck, and own a screaming motorcycle.

Courtney is everything you’ve ever thought a modern day Disney princess would be like.

She’s beautiful and brilliant. She can balance her time perfectly between singing and playing the ukulele, and hanging out outdoors and going on motorcycle rides. She’s calm, yet incredibly fun. She’s self-confident, but 100% approachable. Basically, she’s awesome!

David and Courtney first met while they were working together. However, it wasn’t until after Courtney got a new job somewhere else that they started spending time together.

They went to a few group events, celebrated a birthday or two, and then… Then they had “the night”.

What was, “the night”? What happened that was so important? According to David, they, “stayed up all night and into the morning just talking about life, each other’s past and future goals, and [he] got to know her really well. As [they] opened up to each other, [he] found that she was not only beautiful but also really down to earth and funny.”

After that, it was pretty obvious that their relationship was going to be something special. In fact, David went home that weekend and couldn’t help but tell his parents about this “amazing woman.”

Soon, David picked Courtney up in his muddy truck, opened the door for her, and the two of them went on their first date. They’ve been enjoying adventures together ever since!

Courtney and David, thank you so much for letting me and Josh be a part of one of your biggest adventures thus far!

Your wedding day was fantastic, and we know your marriage will follow suit. Congrats you two!

One of our (Scott and Breanna’s) favorite parts about our job, is that it involves being a part of all the exciting milestones in people’s lives.It’s a pretty special thing, really.Which is why we absolutely love it when we get to start at the beginning with someone and then move with them as they go through many different stages in life!Linzie and Chris are one of our favorite examples of this!The first time we ever took photos of them is when they were just a young little engaged couple...

(So cute, aren’t they?!)

…then we had the privilege of taking photos of them on their wedding day..…and as a special bonus that we don’t always get, we were able to be with them on their one year wedding anniversary, doing Unique Session photos!And now… it’s time for maternity photos!Lucky for us, they were already planning a trip from Phoenix to Los Angeles for Chris’ birthday (yes, another great moment in their lives we were happy to celebrate with them)!So they decided to go ahead and make this trip an opportunity to reunite with their favorite photographers (that would be moi!) to do a maternity shoot!We were so happy to reconnect with them and had so much fun seeing them during this next exciting stage in their lives together!Thanks so much, Linzie and Chris, for bringing us along for the ride in your adventure through life together! It’s an honor to be a part of it!Click to see more of Chris and Linzie’s vacation maternity session here.

Kristin and Rob are such an incredibly beautiful couple in so many ways with such an amazing story that I don’t even know where to start! So I’ll just give up and let someone else’s words start it off for me! To quote one of the officiants (who were both good friends of theirs), “if you don’t know about Kristin’s life before Rob, don’t worry there’s a book about it!”Though this ceremony was the funniest I’ve ever heard (which makes sense because Kristin makes her money being funny), that part is not a joke, there actually IS a book about Kristin’s single days that you can buy on Amazon!To give you a preview of the relaying of Kristin’s single days, this is the first picture we ever took of Kristin……as you can see, she didn’t win the bikini bouquet brawl (though ironically we’re shooting a wedding next year for the girl who did)! But it’s all OK because then she met Rob.No, there’s not a book about this part of their story yet, but the ceremony was so eloquently written (which is fitting since both the bride and groom are writers) that they could probably just transcribe their wedding and sell it to a major publisher as is!This ceremony was not JUST laugh out loud funny the entire time with more audience participation than I’ve ever seen at a wedding……. (I’m serious about the audience participation- spontaneous cheering erupted during the bridal party’s processional, not to mention the crowd wave that got started during dinner)……but the entire ceremony was also unbelievably gorgeous in not just the view, but in the sentiment that Kristin and Rob expressed right there in front of all their loved ones.It started out with Kristen and Rob each saying their own separate vows to Rob’s two boys. This was so moving and also incredibly honest, genuine, and (as expected) very funny!Stories were shared about their time growing as a family including their first fight and the first moment Kristin knew she was more afraid than ever of losing their dad… because she knew by that point that she’d fallen in love with not just one person, but three.See! Tears right there at just my general, way insufficient recollection of it all!This wedding day story wouldn’t be complete without discussing the amazing support system that Kristin and Rob have in both their friends and their family.

(Like our Facebook Page to tag yourself in some of the photos and to help spread Kristin and Rob’s pictures around!)

They were surrounded by wonderful people all day… who also happen to be very talented people!!!Two separate bands made up of their different friends played throughout the day/night, Rob’s mom gave us a BEAUTIFUL performance as she sang a broadway style show tune that his uncle wrote as her speech, and one friend even hopped up to entertain the crowd during a small delay by playing his metal washboard tie! (I kid you not, this actually happened… see that and more in the rest of the photos from the day!Just as I had a hard time putting into words the beauty that represents, and that IS Kristin and Rob and their story together (I should’ve hired them to write this for me!), I have the same problem describing the love and joy that were found at this wedding for a couple whom is both madly adored and madly in love.Kristin and Rob, thank you so much for doing us the honor of choosing us to play such an important role at your wedding. It was definitely a day that we will always remember fondly as it was the perfect cumulation of joy, genuine sentiment, perfectly timed hilarity, visceral beauty, and of course the kind of magical love that is pretty much only found in stories (and sometimes in photos like the one below). It was amazing. Thank you. And congratulations!!! See more of Kristin and Rob’s Genuinely Hilarious Wedding here.